[UPDATE, 10/11/17: We’ve now launched a Student Loan Refinancing product specifically for medical residents and fellows. Learn more here.]
SoFi (Social Finance, LLC), the alumni-funded student lender, launches a new program today for doctors to refinance their educational debt.
As a result of exciting demand from the medical community and accelerating capital raised from alumni and institutional investors, SoFi is extending refinancing options to doctors who have completed residency and graduated from one of the 82 schools in the company’s footprint. Medical-school graduates from Johns Hopkins, University of California – San Francisco, and Washington University of St. Louis are also eligible.
With this announcement, SoFi is helping to address the 86 percent of 2012 medical-school graduates who reported to the AAMC that they have student loans. The majority of medical students who finance their education through borrowing have taken out Stafford and Grad PLUS loans at interest rates of 6.8% and 7.9% respectively, while the median student debt for the class of 2012 is $170,000.
As Bloomberg’s Janet Lorin reported in her April 2013 article on medical-school debt, “The next generation of U.S. physicians is being saddled with record debt amid a looming shortage of doctors needed to cope with a rising elderly population. The burgeoning debt burden may be turning students away from primary care, which pays about $200,000 a year, toward more lucrative specialties.“
SoFi will refinance student debt for doctors with a fixed rate of 5.74% APR when a 5-year-term is selected. This rate is further discounted to 5.49% APR when customers make monthly principal and interest payments by an automatic, monthly deduction from a savings or checking account. Also available are 10-year and 15-year loan terms with fixed rates set at 6.375% APR and 6.875% respectively. These loans are also eligible for a 0.25% rate discount when a customer makes automatic payments.
“SoFi cannot succeed in transforming student loans without addressing the critical debt burdens experienced by those who ensure the health of our community. We are excited to offer loan products that provide more flexible options and meaningful savings.” said SoFi’s Chief Executive Officer Mike Cagney.
In addition to financial benefits, doctors refinancing with SoFi will benefit from a supportive community of people vested in one another’s success.
“We help our borrowers realize their goals beyond paying off student debt. Whether seeking employment opportunities, career advice, access to industry luminaries, or simply a like-minded network, our borrowers have many reasons for choosing SoFi,” said Cagney.
About SoFi
SoFi is transforming the $1 trillion student loan market. By connecting accredited alumni investors with students and recent graduates through school-specific loan funds, investors can earn a compelling risk-adjusted return while helping borrowers reduce the cost of their loans. All members benefit from a supportive community of people vested in one another’s success. Founded in 2011 by a team of Stanford Graduate School of Business alumni, SoFi has funded over $100 million in new and refinanced student loans to students and alumni of 82 schools. SoFi loans are made by SoFi Lending Corp, California Finance Lender’s License Number 6054612. To learn more about SoFi visit www.sofi.com
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